a1 darkness in eastbrook

Module 1A – Darkness in Eastbrook Dungeons & Dragons v4.0

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Darkness in Eastbrook Module 1A

Note: This is written as an adventure for 1 to 4 players of the first level; much has been left open to the DM’s imagination/discretion.

Background - This adventure takes place in the Village of Eastbrook, a small village in the forests away from civilization. The village has lived in peace ever since it was first settled about twenty-five years ago. The families came here to leave the troubles of city life behind them, hoping to raise their children in peace. The community is very close, everyone knows one another by name, and most people are close friends. The Village Elder, Tomas Macfury, led the people out here after scouting the area and seeing no dangers. Tomas had been an adventurer in his younger years and had great experience in the area; he knew this was a safe place to settle. After all these years the village is starting to become fairly self sufficient with the villagers ability to grow good farm crops and their small logging operation in the forest.

Recently things have been starting to change in the forest, however, only a few of the children have noticed this. One of the villagers’ pets, a dog named Randy, has been missing for over a week. The adults believe the dog wandered away and died due to old age. The owners’ son, Samuel Cover, has other beliefs in what has happened to the dog.

The children of the village have seen strange shapes moving in the forest, shadows that just don’t seem right, or glimpses of something out of the corner of their eyes. The children are starting to get scared now when they get near the forest to play, but the parents haven’t done anything as they feel it’s more of over active imaginations, whatever is haunting the woods is clearly avoiding adults. The children have, however, been instructed to stay clear of the forest in case there is some wild animal prowling about. It will be the job of the local huntsmen to search for

anything unusual when they have time away from their hunting.

A couple of the older teens in the village have decided to find out what is going on, without informing the

elders. These older teens are thought of as “heroes” by the younger ones due to some special abilities they have shown. The oldest, named Braune Gromfire, is a heavily built young man of eighteen years (See NPC Sheet for his stats). He is the son of the blacksmith in town and has built up good strength apprenticing with his father. His ability to wield a hammer is unusually good for one his age.

The next teen is a seventeen-year-old female named Stefa Sands whom is adored by all the villagers. She has the ability to hold peoples attention with her charming personality, more so than many of the adults in the village. She also has an ability to use magic, to the delight of all children in the village. She comes by this ability naturally, however, her parents tried to dissuade her from using it as much as possible for fear of hurting herself.

The last friend with special abilities is the one named

Samuel Cover, a sixteen-year-old known for his sleight of hand tricks and unusually quick reflexes. He was adopted by the family that runs the Bower/Fletcher building. His use with the Short bow is known throughout the village as being equal and even excelling beyond many of the adults. His adopted father has taught him much while the boy helps in the making of bows. Beginning the Adventure – This adventure will start the player character(s) as older teens/young adults. The players’ character(s) is/are new to the village, as they have just arrived within the past week. The player character(s) also have abilities, however, they are still new to the village so no one yet knows this. The player character(s) meets the other NPC’s on the day before the


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planned outing. Once learning about the PC’s abilities they ask the character(s) to join them on their task updating them on the situation that has been developing. Adventure Outline – The forests around the village have recently attracted the attention of a few new settlers, unknowingly to the village. A few years earlier a Nixie decided to make a home in the nearby swamp. The villagers have never seen the Nixie, and it has never had any intentions of meeting the villagers until another being decided to make a home near them as well. Only about a month ago a Wolf decided to make the area it’s new home, enjoying the newfound prey in the woods, and enjoying the lack of competition from other predators. The Wolf has just started showing interest in the village recently, the first victim being the dog Randy. The Nixie knows about the Wolf but has done nothing as it has not come close to the swamp yet. She has a suspicion that someone or something sent it this way from the old graveyard to the north of the forest some time ago. She also suspects that the wolf has somehow changed since arriving near the village as it appears to be unusually intelligent.

It will be the task of the adventurers to find out what is haunting the woods and to find a solution to the problem. If they succeed in this the Nixie will approach them with the information that she knows. The group will have to prepare for the adventure, getting whatever supplies they can come up with. One of the main goals will be for them to do all of this without the village elders having any clue as to what is transpiring. A) The Village of Eastbrook – The village is laid out around the main road so as to let travelers see everything the village has to offer. During the day the villagers are busy with work, in the evening the villagers stay in the village and visit with one another. Travelers are welcome and are given nice accommodation at the Inn. The pub is usually the first place a traveler heads and that is where most of the villagers are so that they may meet any new comers.

At night there are at least two militia patrolling the village so as to keep predators away. Militia: 6hp each, 1d6 damage (Short Swords) and 1d6

damage (Short Bows), AC1 (Padding). Each militia carries a lamp with enough oil to keep lit 6 hours. 1) Temple – This large building is the temple for the

village. If anyone should need healing it can be done, light heals are done for free for the villagers. The person who oversees the temple is a Cleric by the name of Johan.

Note: If a party member needs to be raised, it is done for no cost, however, a service will have to be done for Johan. Johan: Level 3 Cleric, 26hp Abilities: Str11 / Dex9 / Con13 / Int12 / Wis17 / Cha15, Spells: Lvl 0 –/ Lvl 1 –/ Lvl 2 – (Add spells as seen fit) Trained Skills: Religion, Heal(Wis), Insight (Wis)

2) Town Hall – This is where the town Elders meet to

make important decisions.

3) Town Square – This is where the vendors set up their booths during the day, also this is the busiest area of the village during the day. 4) Constable’s Station – The local Constable is stationed here, along with the one and only holding cell within the village. The only real job for the Constable is to take care of drunks at the end of the night, although he is capable of handling much more. 5) Inn of Four Winds – Travelers passing through town will stop here over night. The quality of the inn is fairly basic, it is kept in reasonable shape and does not cost a fortune to stay at (prices are DM’s discretion). 6) Winter Wolf Tavern – This tavern is the meeting place

of most of the villages’ residents at the end of the day. Songs can be heard throughout the night here, there’s always food and ale, and everyone is usually in a cheerful mood. 7) Tailor – Living in this building is the woman whose sole

dedications are tailoring and her books. Along with her usual tailoring for the village, Jenna has been placed as the village Scribe, making any official documents that are required. She has dedicated herself to studying books as that’s what her real profession demands. As a Wizard, her life is bent on studying words and symbols. Jenna is older than people realize, at 117 years she is the oldest Human in the village (and surprisingly hasn’t lost any of her sense in old age). Jenna: Level 6 Mage, 18hp Abilities: Str7 / Dex9 / Con10 / Int19 / Wis15 / Cha12, Spells: Lvl 0 –/ Lvl 1 –/ Lvl 2 –/Lvl 3 – (Add spells as seen fit) Trained Skills: Arcana (Int), History (Int), Insight (Wis)

*Jenna will help the adventurers if they show their competence. She has the ability to identify most items with the help of magic. Upon reaching the second module she will be a great source of information regarding the surrounding area in term of history.

8) General Store – In this house resides the family of the girl Stefa Sands. Her father is a Lumberjack that works in the southern woods all day, cutting the necessary lumber required to allow the village trade and make money for their survival. Stefas mother stays at home to watch the Store. Stefa can be found here during the day helping her mother if she is not with her friends.


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9) Bower/Fletcher – This is the shop in which the Cover family makes its living, The bows that come out of this shop are highly prized by passing merchants as the families skills in these trades is beyond that of regular people. The adults have been doing this type work for years. Samuel Cover can be found here when he is not

out with his friends. Items allowed from this shop will be at the DM’s discretion. 10) Blacksmith Shop – This is the shop run by the old adventurer named Malor Gromfury. His shop is responsible for the metalworking in the village, everything from horseshoes to swords. Malors son can usually be found here working during the day if he’s not out with his friends. Malor Gromfury: Level 3 Fighter, 32hp Abilities: Str17 / Dex11/ Con15 / Int9 / Wis10 / Cha9 Trained Skills: Athletics(Str), Endurance(Con), Heal(Wis) 11) Tanner – The local tanning shop supplies the skins necessary for the village. The tanner and his family live in this building on the top floor. 12) Butcher – The village butcher has his shop and home

set up at this point, the store is open every day of the year.

The Forest of Eastbrook

B) The Wolfs Den – The den is a small hidden cave to the

north of the village, a search roll will need to be done every couple minutes to find it (DC20). Once found the group will see some small bones outside the cave, the last meal that was eaten. The Wolf sleeps inside of the den during the day and ventures out in the night. If the cave is

searched, there will be an old Ivory Comb♦ lying in the dirt.

Wolf of Eastbrook - Level 2 - Elite Medium Charmed Beast XP 250 Initiative +5 Senses Perception +7; Low Light Vision HP 64; Bloodied 32 AC 16 Fortitude 14, Reflex 14, Will 13 Immune disease, poison Resist 10 necrotic; Vulnerable 5 radiant Speed 5 ۩ Bite (standard; at-will)

+7 vs. AC; 2d4 + 2 damage, or 2d8 + 2 damage

against a prone target. Alignment: Unaligned Languages: — Str 15 (+4) Dex 15 (+4) Wis 14 (+3) Con 19 (+6) Int 5 (-1) Cha 10 (+1) .

�Note: When the wolf dies a vapor escapes its mouth and heads north through the woods at a very fast speed. If followed it will lead to the graveyard and then disappear. It is at this time that the Nixie will first appear to the characters. C) The Nixie’s Swamp – To the south of the village sits a small but deep swamp that is the home of the Nixie named Ariia. She lives on the bottom of the swamp in a secret cave and is unknown to everyone in the area. She does keep a very close watch to what happens, as she doesn’t want anyone knowing about her home. Her interest in the characters has increase as she has watched their powers

♦ The Ivory Comb belongs to the Tailor, Jenna. Returning

it to her will earn the party an extra reward (very minor

magic item or xp), at the DM’s discretion.

The Wolf of Eastbrook Forest


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improve over time. She knows what kind of future is in store for them as time goes by.

There is no way for anyone to access the Nixies home, and if they should try she will put them to sleep and lay them outside the pond. If the person is persistent or is hostile, she will put them under a spell and make the person her personal servant for a year.

The Nixie will eventually meet the party once they prove their competence at dealing with unusual and hostile situations.. As the party advances in time they will come to see her as an advisor of a sort, and she will see them as pupils. The Nixie will not approach the characters until after they kill the wolf, proving their worth.

Note: The First meeting between the Nixie and the

characters will also introduce the second module. If the characters tell her about the vapor that headed to the graveyard she will inform them of her belief that the wolf was somehow possessed and that they should go and investigate. The Nixie will then grant each character +1 enchantment for each of their primary weapons so that they may have some sort of advantage when meeting any new enemies.

End – This is the end of the first module, more

adventure continues in Module 1B. After this first adventure the characters will be granted 2

nd level (1000xp)

if they haven’t earned enough experience points yet.


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a1 darkness in eastbrook

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